West Bromwich Albion 0-1 Stoke City – Match Review

Dean Whitehead scored the only goal of the game as Stoke beat West Brom at the Hawthorns to claim their first Premier League away win of the season.

Success had continued to elude the Potters on their travels this term but they finally broke their duck at the eighth attempt to continue their fine form and earn a fourth victory in five games.

The Baggies superb start under Steve Clarke came to a grinding halt after they were blown away by Swansea on Wednesday and skidded to back-to-back league defeats for only the second time this season.

Having won won six out of their seven home games it was expected that Albion, with Shane Long back in the side, would easily dispatch the visitors, who held the second best defensive record in the top-flight going into the game.

But an optimistic effort from Steven Reid, that saw the full back try his luck from the half way line, was the closest the hosts came to beating Asmir Begovic in the first half as they struggled to pick the lock of a dogged, well drilled back line.

The best chanced of the opening 45 minutes fell to Kenwyne Jones but the Stoke hitman, starting in place of the injured Peter Crouch, could only head Charlie Adam’s floated delivery wide of Boaz Myhill’s post.

But the turning point came after the break when Pulis summoned Dean Whitehead and Michael Kightly from the bench. And just like the win over Newcastle in midweek the Stoke chief was spot on with his substitutions as Kightly squared for Whitehead to tap in from six yards after Jonas Olsson twice failed to clear.

West Brom endeavoured to manifest an equaliser but their best chance fell to Graham Dorrans but his shot was easily beaten away by Begovic as he held onto a seventh clean sheet of the season.